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Day: June 12, 2012

When I was a kid, during the summer and the harvest season my mother, usually at least twice a month on a saturday, made a stew she called “quer durch den garten”, which literally translates into “across the garden”. It was never the exact same stew because she used whatever fresh vegetables were available that day and usually a stew cut of beef, sometimes sausages or chicken. As starch it was either potatoes, pasta or rice, depending on what was leftover in the fridge or readily available from the cupboard. when we sat down to the table we never knew which starch or protein to expect. However, there was always an abundance of fresh vegetables and herbs. I believe this is the dish which has installed in me my live long love for stew’s of any kind.

So I am standing in my kitchen cooking dinner ( “Quer durch den Garten)
when my friend Leo rings the door bell. I open and there he is with this
wonderful steak for me. Normally he would have called me over for BBQ
and drinks, but today he did not want to drink but still wanted to share his
steak’s with me. Good to have a few precious, real friend’s left :-)

P.S.
Added some mustard and fried onion, put it on some italian bread to soak
up all the juices and, voila !

Only if you don’t laugh at this Jeff. :-) I will not give you a recipe for any sausage because i have never made one following a recipe. You give me the meat, I get the seasoning and method,and off we go. Sausage making is, as i am sure you know, not about recipes, but about understanding the chemical reactions of the ingredients, temperature and time and the result you want to achieve. However, I am sure you have heard of the German “Curry Wurst”. There are many variations, but the main ” secret ” is the “Curry Sauce”. I have surprised many a fellow chef who was not familiar with curry wurst ( mainly americans , since curry wurst is not usually served in this country ), by serving them a variety of different sausages as curry wurst, The sausages were usually pretty good, so nothing earth shaking here. However, the reaction to my ” Curry Sauce ” was usually and, surprisingly to me, very positive. I alway’s give up my recipes if somebody is mercyfully interested in them, but this one is so tremendously simple I don’t even consider it to be a recipe : Simmer a bit of water, add curry powder, a bit of worcester sauce and ketchup. Simmer for a few minutes, cool down. Done. Anything off the grill or pan or fryer you dip into this sauce – excellent ! As I said, don’t laugh – as with all food, sometimes the simple stuff gives the most satisfaction.